It’s Time: Level Squish

[Khaldun-laughing-skull (Khaldun)]

If we went from 120 to 60 being the cap, for example, every level we’d earn would give us the stats and gear upgrades as if we’d gained two levels now.

Pretty sure they would do an ilvl squish to compliment the level squish.
Literally there is no way around it.can’t really compress level and not items. Also, change required level for items because no more 120 and all the gear inbetween it and level 1 are going to be…odd, to say the least without crushing the item levels down to match the new janky max level. Basically, it’s a giant game. Huge, in fact.

Logistically speaking, what you’re suggesting is psychotic. Because there is no precedent for it to occur, on any rpg, ever. Always either same max throughout or upgrading max level with every expansion.

Like say for instance, the next expansion drops, and we all log in, only to find they implemented this craziness. First, you’regoing to notice how your level decreased and so did your capabilities. Then you’re going to notice how your ilvl was also cut in half, because they can’t help but feel like the ilvl didn’t fit anymore and it made certain classes and specs over powered. Then you’regoing to notice how stupid you all have been being because when blizzard changes things, it never goes the way you want it to, and if it does, prepare to get banned for abusing an exploit, or watch with immense fear as they rollback all the parts you liked about what they “improved”

So no, no it wouldn’t.

Also, i started playing during legion so I’m pretty new, yes. But I’ve played blizzard games since 1999. They gonna then blame us because they listened to the wrong group of players.

But think whatcha want.

First, given that Blizzard has made a point to only squish stats when we’re reaching game-breaking levels of damage. Based on that, there won’t be an ilvl or stat squish happening until at least after the expansion following this one.

Unless they start making noise about one, let’s not waste our time complicating the discussion.

I have been playing Blizzard games since Diablo 1 and started WoW in the Burning Crusade. I am fully aware from experience that every major change has come with downsides, as every decision does. Both squishing and not squishing come with their own downsides.

The reason I know the level squish is heading in the right direction is simple:

If we were playing the level squished version of the game now, never having been 120, nobody, absolutely nobody, would be asking for us to add a bunch of extra empty levels. Going from that point to this one would be met with laughter and mockery by everyone playing.

Yes, there will be complications and downsides doing the squish, but if nobody would want to go from a squished version to here, then that means that the squished version is better.

[Eonanus-dalaran]

I have been playing Blizzard games since Diablo 1 and started WoW in the Burning Crusade. I am fully aware from experience that every major change has come with downsides, as every decision does. Both squishing and not squishing come with their own downsides

Really? And when have they ever squished character levels?

If we were playing the level squished version of the game now, never having been 120, nobody , absolutely nobody, would be asking for us to add a bunch of extra empty levels.

First off, it wouldn’t be a “level squished”(seriously joking). Secondly, if they never added the levels after the expansions then that would of been fine, they did that with Diablo 2, and that had an awesome and active player base for a long time.
And third, I’ve never experienced “empty levels”. Especially on blizzard games. If it’s empty feeling, maybe you need something out of game to complete you, or you need to step into the AH to get that missing gear.

Personally, all that -besides the newer content - can be actualized by playing classic.

However, none of that changes the fact that a level squish isn’t going to not level the player base to near 0.

I don’t want to keep playing and collecting things on this game when there’s going to be like 2 level difference in items from cataclysm and draenor.and probably going to be 1-3 ilvl difference as well.

ESPECIALLY while leveling up.

Y’all being psychotic.

You do know crazies tend to justify every action they do?

[Khaldun-laughing-skull (Khaldun)]

I have been playing Blizzard games since Diablo 1 and started WoW in the Burning Crusade. I am fully aware from experience that every major change has come with downsides, as every decision does. Both squishing and not squishing come with their own downsides

Really? And when have they ever squished character levels?

If we were playing the level squished version of the game now, never having been 120, nobody , absolutely nobody, would be asking for us to add a bunch of extra empty levels.

First off, it wouldn’t be a “level squished”(seriously joking). Secondly, if they never added the levels after the expansions then that would of been fine, they did that with Diablo 2, and that had an awesome and active player base for a long time.
And third, I’ve never experienced “empty levels”. Especially on blizzard games. If it’s empty feeling, maybe you need something out of game to complete you, or you need to step into the AH to get that missing gear.

Personally, all that -besides the newer content - can be actualized by playing classic.

However, none of that changes the fact that a level squish isn’t going to not level the player base to near 0.

I don’t want to keep playing and collecting things on this game when there’s going to be like 2 level difference in items from cataclysm and draenor.and probably going to be 1-3 ilvl difference as well.

ESPECIALLY while leveling up.

Y’all being psychotic.

You do know crazies tend to justify every action they do?

Serious question, can you avoid calling us psychotic? That’s twice now, and it’s both insulting and nonsensical.

For empty levels, I’m calling them that because they have literally no impact on how we play. If someone were to ask what they get when they level up and the only answer is that the number by their portrait is one higher, that’s an empty level.

As for level and ilvl differences between gear while leveling, like I’ve said before, if the only change is a level squish, you would actually see bigger ilvl differences in gear per level because of the simple fact that you’d have more ilvls spread out over fewer levels.

No, a level squish has never been done before with any Blizzard product, but you can’t scale up everything to infinity. Most of their games only have one or two expansions. WoW is up to expansion seven so far.

At some point, you need to reset things back to reasonable limits. We’ve had this happen with secondary stats, stat squishes, ilvl squishes and more. Now it’s levels’ turn.

Lastly, again, I get that you firmly hate the level squish and everything it stands for, but can you at least not insult the people who are for it?

[Shamageddon-velen (Shamageddon)]

@Khaldun-laughing-skull

At some point, you need to reset things back to reasonable limits. We’ve had this happen with secondary stats, stat squishes, ilvl squishes and more. Now it’s levels’ turn.

And it falls into THE NEVER ENDING RESET that gets performed every other expansion and is annoying as heck.

Forum Mod Edit: This post has been edited by a moderator due to masked language as it is in violation of the Code of Conduct.

[Huatar-wyrmrest-accord]

What else is there to do in old content after hitting max level?

Y’all freaking redundant af.

Just save it for classic and leave main game alone.

You’re not fully understanding the point of my suggestion.

New players are forced to go through 50 levels of completely irrelevant and outdated content for story that they’re not even going to get the full picture of unless they decide to do each raid tier at their respective levels - and what new player, might I ask, is going to even really care about that? Why do we even have to go through that whole gap of leveling when players aren’t given a reason to care about it at all, if the biggest part of the game is to reach the End-Game? As the game is now, you don’t care about the leveling - but Blizzard can fix it so that players do care about the leveling in a significant, meaningful way.

What you quoted here was the catch for those who would cry, “Well, what I wanted to get mounts/achievements/pets/transmogs from those zones?” Because it’s inevitable for people to assume that by making everything outdated completely optional would completely take this content out of the game.

[Snoopcat-nazgrel]

Kinda wish they would of stuck with 5 level xpacs. Probably would not be hearing anything about a level squish now, if they would have. They probably saw this coming as far back as wolk. Believe it, or not there were a lot of complaints for them going to 5 level ones.

[Megascope-echo-isles]

@Huatar-wyrmrest-accord

It baffles me that people are thinking about this in terms of, “If they lower the amount of levels they’re going to extend the amount of time it takes to get them” or, “we would have to go to each expansion at different levels, that just wouldn’t make sense!”

At this point, WoW is in need of a reboot.

60 - 110 is just no longer relevant . At this point they shouldn’t even be considered part of the story, anymore.

I’ve been advocating a drop of the level cap to 60 and having it stay there for each new expansion while completely overhauling the entire 1 - 60 experience so that (A) It becomes meaningful to actually earn a level, and (B) to fix the completely fractured and nonsensical story progression this game has had since Cataclysm first released.

You may want to read this:
[How to Implement the Level Squish]

[Ruddypiper-sargeras (Ruddypiper)]

I will say that there are plus sides to the zone scaling. At least now it’s easier to pick and choose where you want to level and what order the zones are in which you level. I was still pretty disappointed when the Plaguelands were nerfed in Cataclysm. At least now, I can still save them for last without out-leveling them.

You are comparing zone scaling (which is good but mainly for players who lacked the self control to finish a zone when quests stopped offering XP) to mob + item level scaling which means that every time you gain levels, stats, and upgraded gear the mobs level up exactly the same amount so that Blizzard can impose a strict time to kill goal per mob.

Entirely different and largely unrelated things.